Your starting price and terms for your negotiations should be the highest you could possibly justify for your product or service. The closer your starting point is to what you are prepared to accept, the less you have left to negotiate with and the less likely you are to be [...]
Although this advice was not given to me directly by the originator, but instead by a sales manager who was coaching me many years ago, it was the best advice I ever received. The original quote was by Jim Rohn who said: ‘You become the average of the six people [...]
“I hate sales scripts” and “I won’t use a script when cold calling or selling” are two comments that are frequently made when I introduce the concept of writing and using a script during my training sessions. In many cases the objections are very strong indeed. And in spite of [...]
We all know that we should qualify our prospects and confirm whether or not they have the authority to make a decision to invest in our product or service. But even when we have made that qualification, the person we are selling to may still come out with that dreaded [...]
I mention this because, over the last few months, I’ve been accompanying salespeople on visits for two of my clients and what has horrified me most is the failure of so many to ask for the business (close the sale). I remember very well when I was given my first [...]
You may recall I’ve mentioned in previous blogs and newsletters the fact that ‘the extra mile is rarely crowded’ and that going that extra mile can so often put you ‘miles ahead’ of the competition. Based on my experiences trying to buy a new car recently, I have two observations [...]
So Sometimes it’s better NOT to focus on your goals… This is a true story… A man sat in a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since [...]
One of the exercises I sometimes take delegates through in sales master classes is to ask them to list the USPs of their product or service. Sometimes this exercise is done individually and other times it’s brainstormed in groups. When they have completed this first exercise, I then ask them [...]
It was my good friend and sales guru Brian Tracey who once said: “Selling is the oldest profession – some say there’s an older one but that’s just a sub division of sales”. So what’s that got to do with me wanting to make you feel uncomfortable? Well simply this… [...]
Don’t make this mistake… It is almost certain that before contacting you or responding to an initial approach from you, prospective customers or clients are going to check out your company and / or you on your website and other places such as Linked In, Facebook etc. According to all [...]
